Another Defeat for Voter Suppression
This time in Wisconsin (h/t BR):
A Dane County judge dismissed Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s lawsuit against the state’s elections board, saying Van Hollen had not shown that any state or federal laws had been violated.
The ruling comes just 12 days before voters will cast ballots for president.
Van Hollen sued the Government Accountability Board on Sept. 10, arguing the law requires the board to check registration information for more voters against driver’s license or Social Security records.
But Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled this morning that Van Hollen had not shown any laws had been violated.
She said mismatched data in government databases are not enough to affect one’s ability to vote. The board has said the mismatches are often attributable to typographical mistakes or other harmless errors.
[snip]
Sumi went further and also ruled that Van Hollen didn’t have the power to bring the lawsuit even if he’d identified violations of the law.
It sounds like Van Hollen will appeal. But it also sounds like Sumi threw Van Hollen’s suit out on several different bases.
Let’s see:
1)No laws, state or federal, violated
2)but no laws were violated…again
3)Mismatched data doesn’t count
And last but not least:
4)None of your damned business anyway, Van Hollen
I’d say that about wraps it up with a pretty bow on top.
(Need another p in your soup(ression).
Aw jeebus. I hate when I make a typo and then go off to spend an hour buying doors.
Hope you found something you like. We had to replace two doors last year and now need to do our front door. The 25 year old thermal door, is not so thermal anymore.
Hey, come to think of it, after running around to building suppliers, we happened to be in Anderson’s (the store chain, not the window/door manufacturer) and found the best quality door for the best price (for exterior doors). I think you have an Anderson’s near you. By the way, our doors were Anderson doors.
I’ve got wood doors on both front and back–but they’re warped so badly as to let big drafts in both sides of the house.
Doors. They’re not cheap.
Sorry, EW. I didn’t realize we were going public. It’s always such a surprise to me.
Oh, dear. And I need a close parens.
doesn’t this amount to frivilous?…especially if he persues his course of action?
Somewhat OT: I was almost HAVA’d out of my right to vote this morning
Early voting started on Monday here in Houston. Here’s how it works in Texas. During the early voting period, you can go to any of the early voting polling places in your county. They have PCs (Dell all-in-one flat screens at the one I went to) hooked up through a VPN to the county’s voter registration database. Each PC has a magnetic strip reader attached. If you have a Texas driver’s license, they can swipe it and your voter registration number comes up. A little printer spits out a 4 digit code that you use to log in to the eSlate voting machines. That’s how it worked for my wife yesterday. If you don’t have a driver’s license, you need your voter registration card so they can type in the number (but you still some form of ID).
When they swiped my TDL, the system showed that my voter registration had been cancelled. The address they had was one I hadn’t lived at in nearly 15 years. When they searched on my last name, they couldn’t find any other registration. I’ve voted in almost every election here for the last 20 years, including the Democratic primary in March. I haven’t ever voted early in a general election though. In my precinct, showing my ID is a formality since everybody working the polls knows me. At the early voting place, not so much.
Fortunately, one of the ladies called downtown and was able to locate my voter registration number and I was able to cast my ballot. Still, I found the experience disturbing. First, as an IT guy, it makes no sense to me that my registration number was located by someone who had access to less information than people at the polling place. Second, I’m pretty sure I know why my registration didn’t show up. My real last name (which is not Ockham, btw) is hyphenated, but the data entry clerk who entered my name into the system the last time I registered left out the hyphen. That meant that the name on the voter registration didn’t exactly match the one on my driver’s license. If I had been a newly registered voter, I could’ve been purged from the rolls for a mistake made by the voter registration office. That’s just wrong.
At least you were made aware of the problem with your registration.
From what I’ve been hearing, it seems that votes can be cast and then purged, without the purged voters ever being notified that there was a problem with the registration. That also seems very wrong; is it really set up that way?
The names are purged from the roll prior to voting. You don’t know there is a problem until you show up to vote.
Thanks tbsa. So only provisional ballots can be purged, once cast?
Wow, what a close call. Everyone should be aware that the Obama campaign has put together a tremendous network of attorneys on call and have attorneys at most early voting sites while voting is going on. If you have a problem, look for one of the attorneys or call the hotline at
1-888-DEM-VOTE
This is a Glenn Smith post in Burnt Orange Report about other possible suppression activity in Houston. The TV report is interesting, if you have time, in that it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a local investigative reporter go after a Republican official with any real ferver here in Texas.
wow. thanks for sharing. That is unsettling to say the least that something like a typo would bump you off the roll or make it difficult for you to cast a vote.
this is worse than a banana republic
Republics cannot win unless they cheat.
That’s not very Christian of America’s Christian Party.
It is so sad to see pro-Prop 8 ads here.
Where do you see a pro-Prop 8 ad here?
I saw one on the right side of this page before i wrote that.
If we’re seeing and referring to the same ad, the one I see just reminds people not to forget to go down the ballot and vote on the propositions. It doesn’t say to vote ‘Yes’ on 8. Maybe you’re seeing a different one from the one I’m referring to?
There’s one right now: “how does prop 8 affect me?”
There’s a link to ProtectMarriage.com because Conservatives know that they would all be in gay marriages if it were completely legal.
Well, I’m not seeing any pro-Prop 8 ads on my computer. Apparently you’re getting them where ever you are located. Sorry about that.
Talk to Google about their ad program. They send them automagically.
(Actually, if you click on them, it sends money EW’s way.)
The right-wing momentum to disenfranchise as many voters as possible has been fostered in no small part by the current DoJ, and epsecially by ol’Abu himself. The first thing that Obama needs to do is shut this crap down, and purge the DoJ of those who are loyalists to Bush, and replace them with folks loyal not to him, but the Constitution.
Oh, i imagine he’s going to put his people ALL UP in the middle of DOJ and first thing!
I’ll be amazed if that doesn’t happen, JoFish!
When you start putting the “cries” of fraud against the poll jumps for Obama or mistakes in the McC campaign, the pattern of shiny object becomes sickening.
We need to find out which states have tabulation done by the same computer system.
Amy Goodman’s show yesterday that Leen linked to by accident addressed the concerns spot on.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/22/votes
Regarding Mike Connell, Rove’s computer guru:
Then Rawstory added this to their coverage on this:
Here’s the Rawstory coverage from 3.5 weeeks ago.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/….._0929.html
My thinking out loud asks, “Is Wisconsin yet another state in the computer middle (MIM)?”
The “fraud cries” and ACORN screams seem to me a distraction from the bigger method of fraud.
I am thankful judges are striking these lawsuits down. But each time I hear “ACORN” and “voter fraud” from the wingnuts the netroots needs to shout back, “Connell, subpoena, honor it Senator McCain, before the election.”
They always shout voter fraud while pursuing election fraud.
I wouldn’t be very surprised if most of the republican run SOS offices are using the Ohio 2004 outsource model for dealing with election returns. Didn’t that work out well for our side. The RNC’s technology should be watched very carefully. Just like the email snafu. How many percentage points can they actually switch before it becomes obvious. BO has to win by more than just a couple of percent or else.
that is some story, this election may go to obama no matter HOW many votes he gets
that’s meant to say may not go to obama no matter how many votes he gets
That’s why the netroots needs to address the facts regarding voter fraud vs. election fraud. Election fraud is much easier and more stealth to pull off. Voter fraud, as we learned from the Greene County Young Republicans, can be staged to look like the Dems are doing it, when in fact it is Repugs instructing one another to do it to create the focus on voter fraud.
I was a poll watcher in WI in 2004. We use a scanner system. At the poll where I was, the scanning machine made its own tabulations immediately after all the votes (including absentee and early voting) were cast for that polling place. The polling place itself then phoned, IIRC, the tabulated results to a central place. (after announcing them to the people in the room)
So I’m not sure if what happened in Ohio and some other places could happen in WI.
I’m no expert. But I think what I’ve written is an accurate report of how votes are tabulated and recorded here.
Every voter places his or her own ballot in the scanner. And the poll people keep accurate track of how many people have voted and that the machine is always counting only that same number of votes recorded.
It is the “central place” that tabulation happens that then becomes the victim of this methodology of Man in the Middle…
Well, but votes on the TV are listed by precinct. And with a whole room full of people who’ve heard and seen (I believe it was also on a blackboard) the precinct results, it’s much, much harder to pull something like this off.
I understand what you’re saying. But I don’t think it can happen as you fear. Not from what I’ve seen.
It’s the ability to take advantage of a “margin” of error.
This might help clarify how election fraud happens:
Spoonamore Deposition:
http://www.opednews.com/articl…..19-58.html
I totally agree that none of this tabulation should occur in computers far from the state, where any number of hijinks might happen. The entire process should be “secure” – with every possible paper trail and replication, to keep it honest. It was an outrage the way votes were tabulated (and machine-determined) in 2004. And it’s an outrage if it happens this time.
“paper trail and replication” so logical. Unbelievable that we do not have a uniform system across the nation after the fiascos in 2000 and 04
It is worth reading the Spoonamore deposition..We need to be drumming this in the netroots.
also to spacefish:
Yes, I totally understand how this happens, especially when there is not paper trail, when people vote on machines and the machines are touted as better than paper.
With scanning, each voter receives a paper ballot. So there is always a paper trail. And there is no machine involved until the ballot is scanned. The piles of paper ballots are secured. So there is always a way to go back and rescan – or even count by hand – should the need arise.
There are also huge problems, as I understand it, with the military votes from abroad, which are done via computer.
Anything that utilizes a computer instead of a paper ballot, in my mind, is very suspect. I’d vote absentee then.
I’m very much hoping that under an Obama administration, we’ll have true voting reform, with every type of replication and paper trail and people watching at every step. And maybe some random counting of actual ballots as a check on the whole system.
election issues
http://www.gregpalast.com/
http://www.bradblog.com/
Thanks for linking to those. They have been on this from the get go.
I met Palast at the 2004 Conyers hearings in Columbus
did you read “Block the Vote” by Kennedy and Palast) at Rolling Stone yet
http://www.rollingstone.com/po…..k_the_vote
Yes.
I liked this too and was glad to see it on Maddow’s show:
http://www.stealbackyourvote.org/
WE should have them as guests here or at the Lake. Maybe the comic book could be a “book” salon.
don’t just say it “should be”
find out if the process is open and transparent is in your area
I’m kinda uniquely informed about the voting process in my county. I know everything about the process.
I don’t know how much real world time it would take each person to research the process in their area (my knowledge comes from a lifetime of immersion in elections), but I suggest that everybody here should learn the “Logic and accuracy” portion of the process
in my county, we use mark-a-vote paper ballots. for weeks before the election, the counting machines are calibrated using pre-marked sets of dummy cards (the outcome of a specific set of cards is already known, and the machine is tested to see if it counts the cards correctly). this process is open to the public. you can check the cards and test the machines in person, if you want to
after the election, 5% of the precincts are selected at random, and the ballots for those precincts are hand audited to check the accuracy of the counting machines
and the actual ballots for a presidential election are retained for about 2 more election cycles, so the process can be checked for years after the fact
they got a complete boxed set of sample ballots from the 1976 primary election on the shelf in the local ROV office, amongst other relics of elections past
document retention is a biggie around here
I’ll tell you, freepatriot, for reasons related to the WI lawsuit and some mailers I personally received, I have even been on the phone with a lawyer at the DA’s office in mid-Sept. Plus checking and double checking with the city clerk. And even the Obama campaign. But I like your ideas for checking on transparency.
Gotta run now.
ever gone to a football game to watch the referees ???
my relationship with the ROV is kinda like that
I’m rootin for the refs
I sometimes poke fun by telling the ROV workers that they “don’t wanna end up on CNN like Palm County Florida did”
we actually get a good laugh watching that tape
the police would SO fuck that rent-a-mob UP around here …
and while I’m on the topic of referees …
did y’all see my brother’s mad tacklin skills ???
(wink)
A MITM attack can only operate when someone acts as a trusted proxy for both sides in a transaction. What happens is that the proxy doesn’t pass messages between the participants in the transaction. Instead, the proxy keeps the messages, and sends both participants the information they expect to hear. So, something like this:
County Clerk’s Computer [CC]to Proxy:
Please ask Precinct 42 for their vote totals.
Proxy to Precinct 42 [P42]:
What are your vote totals?
P42 to Proxy:
McCain 12 Obama 48 Nader 3 Paul 7
Proxy to CC:
McCain 35 Obama 34 Nader 0 Paul 1
CC to Proxy
Confirming McCain 35 Obama 34 Nader 0 Paul 1 in P42.
Proxy to P42
Confirming McCain 12 Obama 48 Nader 3 Paul 7
P42 to Proxy
Confirmed.
Proxy to CC
Precinct 42 confirms.
And the vote totals go up. They won’t survive the canvass, though, unless the chips on the precinct counting system are compromised. That’s possible, but a different problem. An MITM attack can’t hold up when the participants communicate directly.
This is why it’s crucial to have a hand count of a random sample of precinct machines, with the sample selected after the election. If the votes fail to tally in the hand count, then the entire machine count is suspect and a hand count is required for the whole jurisdiction.
Ask Don Siegelman how it happens. He has a pretty good idea.
We have scanners in my county. I went to the logic and accuracy testing session last week. The machines do individual print-outs of their results as well as sending the results to the central location by modem. The hard copy is checked against the modem result within 24 hours and well before result validation.
Thanks for your info, Jim.
From what I understood, when I was a poll watcher, any citizen can go and watch, without having to be officially designated by someone. I found it extremely moving to do this. It was almost like a spiritual experience, watching all these people, so passionate to vote.
I think having poll watchers keeps the poll workers more honest. They seemed a bit skeptical at first. But they warmed up as time went on. Even sharing some of their food with us. By late in the day, I was passing out forms for people to fill out while in line (we have same day registration).
I know shenanigans can easily occur in some states. And I’m relieved that it looks like any repub hope of making voting more difficult in WI will likely die very soon.
We sure need more voting reform across the country though.
I dropped of our hand filled out paper into a big metal lock box in the Motor Vehicles Dept., and the election person there is a friend of mine, and an Obi supporter, so I’m thinkin’ we’re good here.
I’m exceedingly distressed to hear of the other situations and problems from all over!
heh – thrown out both on the merits and on a lack-of-standing basis.
If this maroon appeals, I hope the state hits him with sanctions.
[if you can stomach it] Watch Fox news over the next week. There will come a day when the abruptly transition from 100 acorn mentions daily to none.
This will be the day that the coordinated RNC legal challenges stop.
This will be the day they convince McCain to go Dole and campaign in red states to save the congressional GOPers.
This will be the day they decide to keep their suppression powder dry for 2012.
Because the more they provoke now [to no avail], the more likely they will be to face real NVRA and HAVA reform that short-circuits their hijinks.
Such ‘actions’ as (political) ‘dirty tricks’, ‘hijinks’ or ’shenanigans’ are CRIMMINAL actions, destructive of democracy, justice and civility, such actions are, or should be, both unacceptable AND unAmerican …
Those who attempt to dissuade or prohibit others from voting, in a Nation which claims to value democracy, are among the lowest form of crimminal thugs, and, clearly, they have no love of the founding principles of this nation, in fact, they hold such principles in utter contempt, which is precisely where those who would limit the meaningful ‘participation’ of all Americans in determining out collective future should be held, in contempt, and dealt with accordingly.
Such behavior, in an honest nation, would not be tolerated nor held forth as proper or acceptable. It woould certainly never be lauded or bragged about …
Now Cass Sunstein has admonished us not to crimminalize ‘political behavior’.
Okay then, Cass, let us not politicise crimminal behavior. Let us, Cass, recognize it for what it is.
How ’bout THEM apples?
Cass?
Barack?
“My friends …”?
the death rattle of a dying political party
throw the votes out
that’s the repuglitard solution
Digby has the quote
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen better get out of the way if he can’t lend a hand, baby! Woot!
They’re trying that ID matching crap in GA, too. The Sec of State, a Rep, says the law mandates it. Someone sued to stop it, but the courts, after a couple of appeals, basically told the two sides to come up with a compromise. As of this morning – no deal.
It was an uphill battle for the Wisconsin ReThugs to win this argument since four of the six members of the state election board had mismatching data. That and the fact that this was discussed in GOP circles before any problem was thought to have existed.
One additional thought I have about matching data between the DMV and Board of Elections. I live in Mass. and I am so thankful that the Commonwealth gives you the option of using a randomly generated number ID instead of your SS #. You have to give the Registry your Social when you apply for a license, but they put this random number on your actual license. Now, I would imagine that my data would not match up based on these absurd guidelines, so I would be disenfranchised.
when a person is consistently wrong on a subject that you can bet on, instead of trying to cure the person’s ability to wrongly predict the future, the smart thing to do is to start betting against that person’s predictions
Obama is gonna have a GREAT Presidency
how do I know
bill o’liely has been splainin what a disaster an Obama Presidency will be
member when billo though Iraq was gonna be easy ???
if you can’t correct their stupidity, might as well make a buck off of it, right ???
put me down for a ten spot on Obama’s second term
I like your thinking. As a family member says, “When you are explaining, you are losing.”
there will be no honeymoon for obama, just as rush dogged clinton from day one, now the media is even more pervase with these pundits.
t’will be a struggle and obama is gonna have to be real strong
jack cafferty is ripping mcsame a new asshole right now
the second rated show in billo’s time slot is Rachel Maddow (Olberman hit #1, billo is number 3)
everything the repuglitards have done in the past 14 years is coming home to roost
norm coleman pulled his negative ads, and started singing about bipartisanship
smart repuglitards have figured it out
America is FUCKINF SICK AND TIRED of repuglitard hate mongering and divisiveness
that old ronnie raygun line about “THERE THEY GO AGAIN” is gonna come home to roost
anybody wanna bet against President Obama asking the whitehouse press corps “What are the repuglitards having a hissy fit about now ???” (Obama might not use the word repuglitard) during a press conference ???
the mask came off, and all the repuglitards were exposed
pointy heads that fit in pointy hats
we could start a nation lottery to bet on what the first repuglitard call to Impeach Obama is based on (I’d settle for 1/2 a percent, and I could buy out Warren Buffet in a month) we already know the date; january 21, 2009
maybe you ain’t seein that where you live, but it’s out there
OT: Polish premier releases witnesses in secret prisons’ investigation from state secrets restrictions. Witnesses will include four former prime ministers and probably former president Kwasniewski and current one, Kaczynski. The secret services, however, will decide on what testimony is allowed by the relevant former heads of intelligence.
http://wyborcza.pl/1,75248,584…..mnicy.html
Thanks,I heard about this yesterday,and I knew the decision was coming down today.Great News!!
OT: CREW has filed an SEC complaint about the $150,000 clothing budget, saying it violates election law.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi…..p#comments
Beyond Diebold: 10 Ways to Steal This Election
News: From caging to robo-calls, a MoJo field guide to vote-blocking tactics.
By Sasha Abramsky
November/December 2008 Issue
http://motherjones.com/news/ou…..ction.html
I am signed up as an observer in Columbus ( was there in 2004 in the afternoon, Glouster Ohio in the morning ) but am thinking about signing up in Kentucky instead.
Have been encouraging many young folks to sign onto
http://www.videothevote.org/
A somewhat antique article, six weeks ago in the Capitol Times explained some of Van Hollen’s purpose: creating slowdowns of queues on election day, to generate the 2004 OH effect of discouraging voters whose time budgets are at a premium.
Nice catch.
New Post Alert
The Goldwaters Endorse Obama
Not quite OT:
The WH has fired Scott Bloch.
The big question is why are they firing now a guy who’s already said he’s quitting in January?
Twelve days before the election, DOJ Voting Rights Division releases this news:
In 2004 our Democratic County Chair Susan Gwinn had told all of us that southeastern Ohio had been targeted as ground zero. I talked with so many old grannies and granpas who were not going to vote for Bush no way no how. I still think the hanky panky (not enough machines etc) in Columbus stole the 2004 election for Bush
Brokaw: Rove revealed how Bush would win in Ohio
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Thursday October 23, 2008
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/….._1023.html
Ohio sec. of state hit by death threats, cyberattacks
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Thursday October 23, 2008
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/….._1023.html
I forgot Huffpo covered this at the end of September as well:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..30347.html
I had totally missed this October 9th article by Mark Crispin Miller regarding asking McCain to fire Connell:
http://www.opednews.com/articl…..09-51.html
Wow, this get deeper and deeper. We need to call McCain out on this.
http://thejournal.epluribusmed…..r-november
More WOW! This on Huffpost just two days ago tying this guy to the missing emails:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..36653.html
This whole article is worth reading. It put the recent DOJ USAG investigation into a nice context and one that ends up tied to Ohio 2004.
Good news from 358:
Cool bit of technology. http://www.letters2president.org/